25 Video Pick

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

As filmmakers, Joel and Ethan Coen earned carte blanche in Hollywood during the late '80s and early '90s by consistently delivering three key elements in their movies: eclectic yet simple characters, distinctive settings rich with meshing subcultures, and compelling stories that illuminate an aspect of the human condition. Unfortunately, much like 1998's The Big Lebowski, their latest effort, O Brother, Where Art Thou? delivers handsomely on the first two but leaves the third element lacking. Set in the Depression-era South, O Brother is essentially the story of Homer's Odyssey retold through Ulysses Everett McGill (George Clooney), a small-time con who escapes a Mississippi chain gang with two fellow inmates in order to retrieve a buried treasure at his ancestral home before the property is flooded by a New Deal damn project. The plot sequence remains true to its epic inspiration, as the trio encounters various incarnations of Homer's original adversaries and obstacles, all of which retain their mythical qualities. The atmosphere is lush and vibrant, especially with recreations of vintage folk and bluegrass music providing the film's emotional broad strokes and its pulse. And the tone is light, with the kind of gentle humor that is more akin to stage comedy or the studio system movies of the era than to the angular slapstick of Raising Arizona or dark comedy of Fargo. Clooney infuses McGill with his trademark charm, (although he sometimes appears out of his depth), John Turturro delivers another nuanced performance as one of the escapees, and Tim Blake Nelson nearly steals the show as the diminutive dullard Delmar. The only disappointment, oddly enough, is the story itself. O Brother's picaresque plot places the emphasis on the journey, rather than the destination, but it leaves the characters stranded in terms of personal growth, despite the entertaining twists. McGill doesn't seem to change a bit, and no insight is given about what will become of Pete and Delmar. Thus we walk away feeling entertained, but not exactly enlightened or enriched. Still, O Brother is worth the trip to the video store and a night on the couch.